This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1905. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property occupies land that was tideflats and salt marsh before the 1880s and was progressively filled with soil from regrade operations and garbage beginning in the early 1900s, with railroad operations running through the site from at least 1905. Underground storage tanks installed around 1965 were later removed in the early 1990s, and petroleum contamination discovered in 2017 prompted excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 513 tons of impacted soil, collection of 27 soil samples, and installation of a sub-slab methane mitigation system. Ecology's review of groundwater conditions extended through 2019 and 2020, after which the site received a No Further Action determination. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible
Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.
The petroleum hydrocarbons and methane found at this property trace to fill materials deposited in the early 1900s and underground storage tanks installed around 1965 — sources entirely predating 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion. The multi-year remediation record here — soil excavation, groundwater investigation, and permanent sub-slab mitigation infrastructure — documents a substantial cost trail tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the decades of fill activity and tank use may still bear an obligation to recover those cleanup expenditures.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
